Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Battle of Talavera - initial deployments

Below, a view looking west from over Talavera. The Tagus River is in the foreground, and occupies one small corner of the battlefield. A bridge goes over the river, leading east. The Portina Brook empties into the Tagus, running west to east across most of the battlefield. The Spanish army is in the foreground on both sides of the brook; the British are to the top left of the photo; and, the French are to the top right.

Below, the Spanish army positions at the start of the battle. The Vanguard division is in the top right. Three infantry divisions are in fieldworks north of the brook (on the French side of the stream). Two more infantry divisions are behind them, south of the brook. Two cavalry divisions sit south of the infantry. It is a large force, but the troops are poor quality, and there is only a single Commander (in game terms) to control this unwieldy force.

Below, British positions at the start of the battle. Three divisions hold the center of the field, two just south of the brook. Wellesley is near the road so that he can maximize the use of the 2-for-1 road bonus when measuring command radius.

Below, British positions at the start of the battle. Hill's division occupies the Cerro de Medellin, which will be a key fixture in the battle to come. Payne's cavalry division lies south of the Cerro de Medellin. This is the extreme left (west) of the Allied line of battle.

Below, French positions. On the extreme French left (east) sits Milhaud's dragoon division. The ground does not favor them with woods, orchards, the town of Talavera, and the fieldworks in front of them.

Below, French positions. Just to the right of Milhaud is Sebastiani's IV Corps. This is a relatively small corps, and contains only a single French infantry division. The brigades are large, but one is green. A small cavalry unit, and some German and Polish infantry round out the corps. The French Leader (Jospeh/Jourdan) is right-center. There is no road in this part of the battlefield to help facilitate command.

Below, French positions. At the extreme French right is an additional dragoon division along with Victor's I Corps. Victor's Corps is the fist of the French army and contains the best and largest divisions.

Not shown on the map are the Madrid Garrison. They lie north of the battlefield and may enter play sometime mid-day.